/christian/ - Christian Discussion and Fellowship

Surely you know the answer already. You suffer because you've severed your relationship with Christ… but He wants you back to begin with, so what's the point in moping around? Admit your weakness, pray for the strength to make a good confession, and all will be well. God bless you, anon.

Find a Catholic Church, ask to be baptized, if you already are ask to go to RCIA.

The sacrament of confession exists so you can overcome stuff, and Christ is present in the Eucharist and you can ask for help. If you don't use the tools Christ gives us to overcome sin, how can you expect to overcome it?

The habitual sinner may say: Is my salvation then hopeless? No, you are not beyond hope: if you wish to apply it, there is still a remedy for the past. But a certain author says, that in grievous maladies very severe remedies are necessary. If to a sick man in danger of death, and unwilling to take medicine, because he is not aware of the malignity of his disease, the physician said: Friend, you will certainly die unless you take such a medicine: what would be the answer of the invalid? He would say, “As my life is in danger, I am ready to obey all your directions.” Dearly beloved Christian, if you are an habitual sinner. I say the same to you. You are very ill; you are one of these invalids who, as St. Thomas of Villanova says, are seldom cured;32 you are on the brink of perdition. But if you wish to recover from your illness, there is a remedy for you; however, you must not expect a miracle of grace. You must on your part labor hard to take away the occasions of sin, to avoid bad company, to resist temptations by recommending yourself to God as soon as you perceive them: you must adopt the means of salvation, by going frequently to confession, by reading a spiritual book every day, by practising devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and continually imploring her to obtain for you strength not to relapse into sin. You must do violence to yourself: otherwise the threat of the Lord against obstinate sinners will fall upon you. You shall die in your sin. And if you do not adopt these means now that the Lord gives you light, you will scarcely adopt them hereafter. Listen to God calling you to repentance. Lazarus, come forth. Poor sinner! you are long dead: go forth from the dark grave of your sinful life. Respond at once to the call, and give yourself instantly to God. Tremble lest this should be the last call for you.

http://alphonsianum.blogspot.com/2010/07/22-habit-of-sin.html

>I thought this would fulfill me

We aren't made for worldly things, God wants more for you.

By worldlings they only are esteemed happy who enjoy the pleasures, the riches, and the pomps of this world; but death puts an end to all these earthly goods. For what is your life? It is a vapor which appeareth for a little while.1 The vapors exhaled from the earth, when raised in the air and clothed with light by the sun, make a splendid appearance; but how long does their splendor last? It vanishes before the first blast of the wind. Behold that nobleman: to-day he is courted, feared, and almost adored; to-morrow he is dead, despised, reviled, and trampled upon. At death we must leave all things. The brother of that great servant of God, Thomas à Kempis, took delight in speaking of a beautiful house which he had built for himself: a friend told him that it had one great defect. “What is it?” said he. “It is,” answered the other, “that you have made a door in it.” “What,” rejoined the brother of à Kempis, “is a door defect?” “Yes,” answered the friend: “for through this door you must be one day carried dead, and must leave the house and all things.”

http://alphonsianum.blogspot.com/2009/10/02-all-ends-with-death.html

God is merciful and if you ask for assistance He will give it, however you must actually take the steps to follow what he gives you. If you refuse to take advantage of confession and the sacraments it's not Him not helping you, it's you refusing to be helped. He will keep on trying to bring you to him until the day you die though.

Dearly beloved Christian, how often have you been deaf to the calls of God? You deserved that he should call you no more; but your God has not ceased to call you, because he wishes to make peace with you, and to save you. Who was it that called you? A God of infinite majesty. And what were you but a miserable fetid worm! Why did he call you? For no other purpose than to restore to you the life of grace which you had lost? Return ye and live.21 To acquire the divine grace, it would be but little to live in a desert during your entire life. God offered to give you his grace at each moment, if you wished to obtain it by making an act of contrition, and you refused. And after all this, God has not abandoned you, he has gone in search of you, as it were weeping, and saying: Son, why will you bring yourself to perdition? And why will you die, O house of Israel?22 When man commits a mortal sin, he banishes God from his soul. The wicked have said to God, Depart from us.23 But what does God do? He places himself at the door of that ungrateful heart. Behold, I stand at the gate and knock.24 He even appears to entreat the soul to allow him to enter. Open to Me, my sister.25 He grows weary praying for admission. I am weary of entreating thee.26 Yes, says St. Denis, the Areopagite, God follows sinners like a despised lover, entreating them not to destroy their souls.27 And this precisely the Apostle meant when he wrote to his disciples. For Christ, I beseech you to be reconciled to God.28 In explaining this passage, St. John Chrysostom makes a beautiful reflection “Christ himself entreats you; but what does he entreat you to do? To be reconciled to God; for it is not God that acts like an enemy, but you.”29 The saint’s meaning is, that the sinner has not to labor in order to move God to make peace with him; for he, and not God, refuses peace.

The Lord promises that, if sinners repent, he will even forget their sins, as if they had never offended him. If the wicked do penance . . . living he shall live. . . . I will not remember all his iniquities that he hath done.37 He even goes so far as to say, Come and accuse Me, saith the Lord; if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow.38 As if he said: Sinners, come and accuse Me; if I do not pardon you, reprove me, upbraid me with having been unfaithful to my promises. But no; God knows not how to despise an humble and contrite heart.

http://alphonsianum.blogspot.com/2010/04/mercy-of-god.html

The Bible says we're in a constant spiritual warfare. This temptation comes from the enemy and the best way to combat it is to turn to God. Repent, ask for forgiveness, and ask Him to help you change, to be strong in your faith and to rely on Him when this temptation arises again.

Read the Bible, start going to church again, and pray without ceasing. It sounds like a lot, but it's going to be fulfilling to your soul and bring you peace and joy again. Christ's blood was shed for you, so that you can repent and be forgiven of your sins, no matter how great they are, and walk with Him despite your shortcomings. He's always there for you and you're ALWAYS forgiven, all you have to do is allow Him to be in your life.

Some verses I think might help (sorry it's all different versions, I'm not sure which I like best tbh)

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith." 1 Peter 5:8-9

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7

"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Matthew 26:41

"Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you." 1 Peter 5:7

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

Also read Psalm 23, that one always helps me with my faith

God bless

Thank you very much everyone.

I will do my best to pray and resist temptation.

I still have some bad habits I need to quit, and I'll pray about it.

You ought to pray and go to church first, then worry about those bad habits.

Too often we use them as a shield, as an excuse. I'll go to church I'll pray, just as soon as I learned to overcome masturbation, addiction, homosexuality, what have you.

But this kind of thinking is wrong. Pray now. Confess now. Go to mass now. The church is a hospital for sinners; what use has the holy man for church? He's with God in heaven.